


Coming Out

by MsOBrien



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Vulnerability
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:26:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21538975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsOBrien/pseuds/MsOBrien
Summary: Eddie and Buck reveal their relationship to the FireFam at Thanksgiving dinner
Relationships: Athena Grant/Bobby Nash, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Athena Grant, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Bobby Nash, Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz, Henrietta "Hen" Wilson/Karen Wilson, Maddie Buckley & Howie "Chimney" Han
Comments: 6
Kudos: 314





	Coming Out

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first 9-1-1 fic and my first fic I've written in years. Let me know what you think!

Buck was nervous, he could tell. Tonight, was the night. After three months of dating he and Eddie are announcing their relationship to the team at the family Thanksgiving over at the Nash-Grant household. Not even Christopher knew about their relationship. They behaved the same they always have in front of Chris. All the touches, kisses and cuddling that proved their relationship always waited until Chris was in bed for the night. 

It started in the summer after the tsunami. Buck, who was still on medical leave at the time, had taken to watching Christopher while Eddie worked. Buck and Chris spent their days dealing with the trauma from the tsunami, learning to love water again. They would never enjoy it the same way again but at least handwashing, showering and drinks weren’t triggering anymore. Swimming and going to the pier or the beach took more effort on their parts. It was manageable, but they had to mentally prepare for it, no spontaneous trips. They still got triggered by rain, thunderstorms, sprinklers and any unexpected water encounters. It was a long summer full of nightmares for both Chris and Buck. Most nights one, if not both, woke up screaming for the other. Christopher’s nightmares seemed to mostly consist of thinking Buck drowned and he was dead. Buck’s nightmares mostly centered around losing Chris and not being able to find him or finding his lifeless body. 

One night in the middle of June, six weeks after the tsunami, Eddie came home after a late shift to find Buck and Chris asleep in the spare room. Looking at them and around the room, Eddie realized that Buck hadn’t been back to his own place in weeks. He had clothes in the dresser and closet, a toothbrush in the bathroom, his shampoo and body wash had its own place in the Diaz shower and his favorite pillow had taken up residence in the guest room. With a start Eddie realized that it was no longer the guest room, it was Buck’s room. A warmth that Eddie couldn’t place filled his chest. Eddie smiled and shut the door vowing to make it official in the morning. The next morning when Eddie woke, he was greeted by the sight of Buck and Chris making pancakes in the kitchen. After breakfast, while Chris was watching cartoons in the other room, Eddie asked Buck to move in officially. It took some convincing on Eddie’s part and pointing out that he already lives there before Buck agreed. Just like that the Diaz house became the Buckley-Diaz house. 

Their relationship took longer. Neither wanted to ruin the relationship they currently had. Eddie was scared. He didn’t want to lose his best friend and he didn’t want his son to lose Buck if things went south. Buck, while he didn’t want to lose Eddie or Chris, didn’t feel worthy of Eddie’s love. Buck still struggled with the guilt of losing Chris during the tsunami. It took time and patience from Eddie but eventually Buck accepted the fact that losing Christopher during the tsunami was not his fault, but an act of nature. By the time Chris started school in August and Buck rejoined the 118 full time, they were together. They kept it a secret wanting to just have each other for a while before anyone knew. It was getting harder and harder to keep it a secret at work however, which is why they decided it is time to tell the team. 

Eddie just finished getting Chris ready and is going to check on Buck. Eddie found Buck sitting on the edge of their bed looking at his hands. 

‘Buck you okay?’

Buck looked up and Eddie could see the tears glistening in his eyes. Eddie’s heart broke at the look on Buck’s face. 

‘Buck, we don’t have to do this if you’re not ready’

‘I want to. I’m just scared. What if Bobby reacts like my dad did?’

‘Bobby won’t. He loves you no matter who you love’

Buck looked uncertain but nodded his head. Buck stood up, kissed Eddie and walked out of the room. Eddie followed at a resigned pace. He knew this was going to be hard for Buck, he just hopes the team won’t let him down. Eddie walked into the living room to find Buck helping Chris put his backpack on and hand him his crutches. They walked out to Eddie’s truck and Buck helped Chris get into the back seat. On the drive over Buck was shaking his leg and nervously tapping his fingers on his thigh. Eddie pulled up to the Nash-Grant house and saw that everyone else was already there. Buck got out of the truck and helped Chris out of the truck. The three walked to the front door and Chris rang the doorbell. Athena opened the door and smiled widely when she saw Chris. 

‘Hi Chris!’

‘Hi ‘thena’ 

‘All the kids are in Harry’s room’

‘Kay!’

Chris hugged Buck’s legs and the ran as fast as his crutches would carry him to Harry’s room. 

‘Hi boys’ Athena said

Buck hugged Athena and walked down the steps to where the rest of the 118 was waiting. Athena looked at Eddie with confusion.

‘You’ll find out soon. He’s just nervous.’

‘Of what?’

‘You’ll find out soon why but he scared of how Bobby is going to react when we tell you guys what we have to tell you’

Understanding bleed into Athena’s eyes. Athena pat Eddie on the shoulder before they turned and walked down to join everyone else. Everyone sat around the couches until dinner was ready. They laughed and chatted and swapped stories. Buck never seemed to relax completely but he loosened up as the day went on. 

When Bobby announced that dinner was ready everyone got up and went into the kitchen. Buck offered to go get the kids. Buck came into the kitchen, Chris on his back, Denny and Harry laughing at something that was said. May was trailing behind them, laughing softly. The adult had already made plates and were sitting at the table. Buck moved through the line making Chris and himself a plate. Hen moved to help Denny make a plate, while Bobby helped Harry. Throughout dinner everyone was laughing and talking but all the adults could tell something was up with Buck. By the time dinner was over, and dessert was had Eddie could see the concern on the teams faces. Christopher had even noticed something was wrong with his Buck, asking multiple time if Buck was okay. Each time Buck smiled at Chris and told him he was fine. After dinner, when all the kids returned to Harry’s room, Bobby had finally had enough of Buck’s odd behavior. 

‘Buck, what’s going on with you?’

Buck looked up at Bobby with a deer caught in the headlights look. Everyone grew more concerned once they could see the fear on Buck’s face. Eddie could see the exact moment that Maddie figured out what was going on. Maddie got up and hugged Buck. She whispered in his ear as she rubbed his back. Eddie could see Buck nod from where he had his face buried in Maddie’s neck. Maddie whispers in his ear a couple more things before straightening up. 

‘Something we haven’t told you guys is that our parents were not the greatest. They had Buck the summer before I was a sophomore in high school. An accident, they used to say. I never thought of him that way. Our dad was some hotshot business man. He cheated on our mom a lot and drank excessively. Our mom, she just ignored everything that was going on. In her eyes, he was the perfect man and we were a perfect family. I left for college a month after his 4th birthday. I still visited. Not as often as I should’ve knowing how our parents were, I’ll admit. One weekend a month turned into every other month by the end of my first year. Nursing school was hard, and I had gotten out. I didn’t have to deal with any of their shit anymore. Buck started school that next year. He instantly became friends with this kid name Jake. They were inseparable. I slowly stopped visiting and all that was left was phone calls. I had just met Doug and before I knew it I had graduated and married Doug. By this point Doug had already started isolating me. Three years passed and one night I received the first phone call from Buck since college. He was at the hospital and needed me to pick him up. Since he was only 12 he had to be released to an adult family member.’

Maddie stopped and looked at Buck. He nodded his head yes and she continued. 

‘Dad had come home from work early and caught Buck kissing Jake. From what Buck told me in the hospital Dad threw Jake out and started screaming about how his son was not going to be a fucking faggot. He wouldn’t allow it, not under his roof. Dad made sure he would always remember that night. He took an ash tray with a lit cigarette in it and hit Buck in the face with it. Between the burns and the cut from the glass, he had to go to the hospital. 42 stitches later and Buck called me.’ Maddie took a deep breath. ‘The mark you guys know as a birthmark, is actually the scar from that night. Dad made sure he’d remember it every time he looked in the mirror.’

Eddie’s knew most of this, from Buck telling him himself. He did not know about the scar though. Eddie could see the team’s hearts breaking. Especially Bobby’s. He could also see pure understanding on Athena’s from their conversation earlier. 

‘From what I’ve found out since I’ve been in LA, it only got worse from there. Monthly beatings turned into weekly beatings which turned into daily beatings. By the time Buck was in high school, he was being beat daily at the hands of our father. The day he turned 18, he packed his bags and left, never looking back.’ 

Maddie hugged Buck, whispered in his ear again and kissed his cheek before sitting down next to Chimney. Buck stared down at his hands even when Eddie put his hand on his shoulder in support. Bobby ducked down to catch Buck’s eye.

‘What does this have to do with what’s got you so worked up, kid?’

Buck shook his head and continued to play with his hands. 

‘Come on, kid, talk to me’

Buck mumbled something that no one could hear. 

‘Buck’ Bobby said, everyone hearing the parental authority in his voice. Buck could hear it too.

‘I moved into Eddie’s and we’re dating!’ Buck all but shouted.

Buck’s eyes went wide, he paled and shrunk in on himself. Suddenly everyone knew what had Buck terrified, even Bobby. Everyone seemed to recognize that Buck didn’t care about anyone’s opinion other than Bobby’s. Bobby was taken back by Buck shouting but slowly a smile appeared on his face. 

‘Congratulations Buck. I’m proud of you’ 

Buck threw himself across the distance between him and Bobby into Bobby’s arms. Bobby hugged Buck tightly and whispered something in his ear. Buck just squeezed Bobby tighter. Everyone looked at the two fondly. Once it was clear that Buck wasn’t letting go any time soon the other turned to Eddie and began to congratulate him. Everyone hugged him, and Buck when he eventually released Bobby. The rest of the night went smoothly, watching movies and joking and just spending time as a family. Eventually, it got late, and they had to Chris home and to bed. They said good night and loaded Christopher in the truck, the boy already half asleep. Eddie drove them home quietly, knowing Buck was still processing what happened. Once they pulled up at home, Buck got Christopher out of the truck and carried him inside. They made quick work of changing Chris into pajamas and putting him to bed. They went to their room and changed into night clothes. Once in bed Eddie looked at Buck and smiled. Buck smiled back and kissed him. In that moment, Eddie knew Buck was it for him, forever.

**Author's Note:**

> I know it's never been stated when Buck's birthday is, just how old he is. However, Oliver Stark's birthday is at the end of June so I am going to use that for Buck's birthday.


End file.
